Nicor Gas is providing this website to keep the community informed about the Bloomington Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) Environmental Cleanup Project.

Nicor Gas is conducting an environmental cleanup project at the location of a former MGP in Bloomington, Illinois. The MGP once manufactured gas from coal, coke and/or oil to serve the community’s energy needs. The Bloomington MGP was located at the northeast corner of Washington Street and Gas Avenue.

Supplies of natural gas were not always available in Illinois. Prior to the mid-1900s, MGPs provided gas for lighting, cooking, heating and industrial applications. When natural gas became available in the mid-1900s, the MGPs closed. Sometimes tar and other residuals associated with the manufactured gas process remain at the production sites. (Click here for more information about MGPs.)  Nicor Gas has an environmental program in place to address the residuals from the manufactured gas process.

Investigation and cleanup activities have been ongoing at the Bloomington MGP and surrounding properties, including the adjacent former Ciba-Geigy industrial property. The project is being conducted in cooperation with, and with oversight by, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) through its voluntary Site Remediation Program (SRP). Through the SRP, the Illinois EPA reviews and approves the cleanup work. (Click here for more information about the details of the Bloomington MGP.)

Bloomington MGP Site Cleanup

A cleanup plan to restore the MGP property and Ciba-Geigy property to current environmental standards has been developed. Soil exceeding Illinois EPA standards is excavated, safely loaded into trucks and disposed of at a licensed waste disposal facility. The excavation is then backfilled with clean material and the property will be restored.